


Speed of Light

by Elphabacanfigureskate



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Animated Universe, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: College AU, F/M, I'll give you 3 guesses what major I am, It also occured to me that I forgot about art, Physics, Professor AU, University AU, also I'm projecting oops, angry STEM diversity ranting ahead, heh, physics is stupid, sorry y'all, wth am I doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-09 09:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8885770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elphabacanfigureskate/pseuds/Elphabacanfigureskate
Summary: Tumblr prompt sent by anon: "You should write an AU prompt where Diana & Bruce are professors at a university and argue a lot, work in the same department, and Bruce terrorize students."





	1. Speed of Light

**Author's Note:**

> What am I doing?
> 
> (Posted on ff over a year ago and I never got around to putting it here.)

“You know, every student in the school is afraid of you.”

The man in front of her continued tapping away at his keyboard.

Diana sighed.

“It would be easier to convince kids to switch majors if the head of the department didn’t scare the ever loving Tartarus out of them.”

Silence.

Diana glared.

“And that’s when I told them neutrinos have no mass and travel at the speed of light.”

Bruce looked up and opened his mouth to correct his colleague. He glared when he saw Diana’s smirk.

“So you were listening.”

“You sound idiotic when you say Tartarus instead of hell.”

“I didn’t get my second masters in Greek Mythology for nothing, Bruce.”

He mumbled something about fruitless pursuits before going back to his project.

“What are you doing anyway?”

“Stopping the end of the world.”

Diana rolled her eyes. The man’s inflated sense of self-importance never ceased to amaze her.

“I did actually have a reason for coming in here.”

“I’m sure you did.”

“There aren’t enough women in the department.”

Bruce pressed the key to begin the simulation and gave Diana his full attention. She stood tall and lifted her chin. He hated that she was a good three inches taller than him and she would hold it over them until they died.

“We’ve been over this. I can’t kidnap women and force them to become physicists.”

“Yes but there’s something to be said about encouragement.”

“You’re too optimistic, Princess.”

Diana growled and crossed her arms. She could deal with the nickname in a friendly setting but now it only furthered her anger.

“And you’re a centaur without a human half.”

“Is that your way of calling me an ass?”

“Yeah I thought it was pretty creative.”

Bruce took a deep breath and changed his focus back to his work. Diana growled and stormed out of his office.

This wasn’t over. 

\---

Diana loved teaching the Quantum mechanics class.

The material was exciting, all the students cared, and the best thing of all;

No freshman.

Not one.

She unpacked her laptop and notes while the TA, Zatana, searched for the HTMI cable.

"What were you and Bruce arguing about?"

"His approach to teaching." Diana said as she pulled up her slide show. "And how he scares new people away from physics."

Zatana laughed and took her seat toward the back of the room. At this level the classes had only 15 or so students so the TA was there more for different   
perspectives than controlling the class.

The students started trickling into the room. Diana mentally practiced their names. Most professors didn’t bother to know their students but she wanted to encourage the kids that made it this far.

Oliver and Dinah nodded at her as they entered the room. The odd pair became the talk of the department as soon as they started dating. Their joint   
presentations on Newtonian and Lagrangian mechanics brought in crowds well into the triple digits.

Nathaniel smiled and greeted her in his cute southern drawl. The former officer turned undergrad had an unstoppable passion for nuclear physics. His current research in fission took up most of his time.

Victor or, as many of his friend call him, Cyborg entered. The computer science major was explaining his new program to Kara as they both took their seats. 

The rest of the students filed in as Diana turned her attention to fixing the projector. 

Wally West, the track star, dashed in the door ten seconds late as usual. For the fastest man on the east coast the boy couldn’t be on time for anything. He plopped into his chair just as she started speaking.

“When two particles states are dependent on one another it's called Quantum Entanglement. Can anyone tell me why this phenomenon is important?”   
Wally lifted his hand.

“Because messages travels faster than the speed of light.” 

“That’s correct.”

“No it’s not.” Diana and the rest of the class’ eyes darted to the back of the room where Bruce leaned against the doorframe. “There is no message. That’s what   
the theory proves.”

Diana glared at him.

“Yes but the idea is the same. The basic concept is that their dependency breaks the rules of relativity.”

“Basic isn’t good enough.”

“You know what?” Diana stepped out from behind the podium and crossed her arms. “You’re wrong. Basic is good enough. Basic is something. Do you know the percentage of people who could tell me even that? It’s not very high.” Bruce stood a bit taller as she came closer. “You may know everything there is to know about Astro-particle physics but you have no idea how to teach.” With that she returned to her spot behind the lectern. “Get out of my class.”

She expected Bruce to yell, maybe suspend her from teaching and take over her class, but without a word he exited the room like it was on fire.  
Diana took a deep breath and continued her lecture. 

\--- 

“Diana’s right you know.”

“How would you know that, Clark?”

Clark raised an eyebrow. 

“You know my cousin is in your department right? Well that and I’m a journalist.” Bruce rolled his eyes so Clark continued. “Kara is one of six, including Diana   
and Zatana. Women make of less than twenty percent of bachelors of physics. Not to mention the inherent sexism when it comes to things like tenure and-” 

“I know it’s a problem, Boy Scout.”

Clark put down his sandwich and picked up his coffee.

“Then why fight Diana so hard?”

“Because I don’t want to get her hopes up. If she thinks it’s my fault new people aren’t coming in she won’t lose any of her optimism.”

Clark raised an eyebrow. Bruce’s logic was… well it was stupid but it proved he cared about his coworker. He can’t believe he hadn’t seen it sooner. 

Bruce liked Diana.

Oh.

That’s what John talked about all the time.

“You should ask her out.”

Bruce looked taken aback for a moment but recovered quickly. 

“I don’t like her.” Clark blinked. “She’s a remarkable physicist, a friend, and a colleague but I don’t want to date her.”

Clark let the subject drop at the boldface lie but continued to think about his friends. Bruce chose Diana as his assistant department head because she could   
argue with him. Her wit only rivaled by her knowledge and her striking personality fit in well with the rest of her colleagues. Bruce, ever serious, stuck out like a sore thumb among the “Original Seven” as much of the faculty called their group. He wasn’t afraid to shoot down any idea if it didn’t benefit the school.  
Bruce’s world consisted of his computer and his office. Why not factor Diana into that equation? They had no shortage of things to talk about (most of those things were so far above Clarks knowledge level it made his head spin) and thought Bruce was prickly to say the least, the man was driven to the point of excess.

They were drawn to each other since the beginning and now that Clark found out the only two left to notice were Bruce and Diana themselves. 

\---

Bruce thought over what Clark said. If the innocent Boy Scout could tell he lo- liked Diana then everyone on campus knew. 

When he was an undergrad he made three rules. No dating in the department, no military labs, and no private funding. If he dated Diana he broke one of the   
rules that got him to his current position. His fingers hovered over his keyboard but didn’t move. 

Would it be so bad to break that rule? 

Diana was every student’s favorite professor. Her smile lit up a room and her eyes sparkled whenever she talked about physics. She worked as hard as he did and juggled four times as many classes. Her pet project of bringing more people to the department (especially minorities) was making a positive impact. 

Bruce sighed. Just as he was about to start working again the object of his affections stormed in.

“What the hell was that for Bruce!?” He flinched as the door slammed. “You just had to embarrass me in front of my class. Not only that but you just had to   
make the blow to Wally’s confidence. You know he’s only in that class because I thought he’d enjoy it? He wants to drop now because he doesn't think he’s smart enough.” Bruce stared intently at a fleck in the wood grain of his desk. “I really don’t understand why you’re so, so-” She broke off when she realized he wasn’t even looking at her.

“I’m sorry, princess.” That stopped her in her tracks. He as good as admitted he was wrong. “I’ll call Wally in and tell him I’m sorry too.”

Her jaw dropped. Bruce apologizing to a lowly undergrad? One that isn’t even a physics major? It knocked her off balance.

“I want to take you to dinner.” He blurted. Bruce seemed surprised by his own actions but made no move to take it back. He just asked her out.

Diana blinked and tried to take everything in.

Bruce apologized, promised to apologize to an undergrad and asked her out in the span of twenty five seconds.

Wow.

She should probably give him an answer.

“S-sure.” She stammered.

He took a deep breath.

“Ok. I’ll pick you up at seven?”

She nodded and turned to go. As she grabbed the doorknob she turned and dashed over to his desk and pecked him on the cheek.

“Tonight at seven."

"Yeah."


	2. Three Times Ten to the Eighth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the puns.
> 
> (No I'm not)

Diana had no idea Bruce looked that good in a suit.

The knock on her door came promptly at seven. Diana donned a dress she’d bought her sophomore year and never had the courage to wear. The tight black   
dress shone in the light and drew attention to her generous assets. The moment she opened the door Bruce’s jaw dropped.

Diana swallowed and Bruce took a deep breath.

“You look lovely.”

Diana’s cheeks reddened. She thought Bruce was attractive from day one but never thought she would get the chance to act on her desires. 

“I like your suit.” 

Diana cringed. Despite her looks Diana didn’t date as much as people thought she did. In undergrad she double majored in physics and history then went on the get her two masters and PHD. The rigorous schedule left little time for friendship, much less romance. Since settling in she found herself with a regular schedule and free time.

And a massive crush on her boss.

Even though she flubbed the comment Bruce looked pleased.

“Where are we going?”

“A little café on 8th street.”

He opened the door to his car and they drove away from her apartment. Bruce hesitantly took her hand. Diana returned his grip. The entire way to the restaurant her cheeks burned with the innocent contact.

This was actually happening. 

They were seated in the back by a student who smiled at the both of them. Wait was that one of Shayera’s students? She left them with their menus and a wink in Diana’s direction.

Oh Hera.

They ordered their meals and Bruce leaned back in his chair.

“So here’s the real question,” Diana lean forward and placed her chin on her hands. “What’s the best physics pun you’ve ever heard?”  
Bruce laughed and it occurred to Diana it was probably the first time she heard a genuine laugh from the man. He thought for a moment.

“This came from my advisor.” He shook his head. “Gravity is a law and all law breakers are pulled down.”

Diana let out an ugly snort but tried to cover it with her hand. Bruce saw right through it.

“Your turn.”

“What did the Nuclear Physicist post on his door when he went camping?”

“Oh no.” 

“Gone fission!”

“Oh that’s bad.”

“So was yours!”

They both laughed and debated if a bad pun was more true to the nature of puns. After they were served their food Bruce offered her a piece of fish. Diana made a face.

“Come on, don’t flounder on me.”

“Oh my god.”

After roughly eight million more puns Bruce paid the check (after convincing Diana) and they left the bistro hand in hand. The ride to her home passed in companionable silence. He walked her to her door and she paused before unlocking it.

“I had a good time, Bruce.”

“I did too.”

They both paused for a moment. Bruce leaned forward and Diana felt his breath across her lips. Her hear stuttered in her chest.

Their lips touched and Diana let out a little whimper. Her hands slipped into Bruce’s hair and her nails scratched at his scalp. Bruce settled his hands on her   
hips as Diana pulled his head closer. When the need for oxygen took over they separated and pressed their foreheads together.

“Wow.”

Bruce laughed at her reaction.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

\---

“John, he finally did it.”

John raised his eyebrows.

“You don’t mean…” 

“Bruce!”

“Bruce finally did it?”

Shayera nodded and held out the palm of her hand. 

“One day, he couldn’t have waited one more day.” John fished into his wallet and pulled out twenty dollars. Shayera smirked as Clark entered the conference   
room.

“Oh no she’s smiling what’s going on?”

“Bruce did it.”

“What did he do?”

John and Shayera groaned.

“You have to be the densest reporter on the face of the Earth.”

“What did Bruce do?”

“He asked Diana on a date.” J’onn said in his usual monotone. The history professor set down a few of his books to reach into his pocket. “And I owe Shayera   
twenty dollars.”

“And you were betting on this?”

“Yes.” They answered in unison.

“You’re all despicable people.”

Shayera and John shrugged but J’onn at least had the decency to look sheepish. Clark sat in his usual chair as Barry dashed into the room.

“Hey what’d I miss?”

“Nothing except you owe me twenty bucks.”

“No way. He did it!?”

“I did it.”

All five of the other professors froze when they heard Bruce’s voice. He stood just inside the room while Diana leaned against the doorframe. 

“Bruce-we-uh…” Shayera attempted to cover.

“Save it. We have work to do.”

He and Diana took their seats next to each other. The rest of the original seven followed their lead and took out their notes.

“What needs to be addressed?”

“The chem department need more money for the nth metal research.”

Bruce nodded and jotted it down. Shayera’s department prospered with the addition of Carter Hall. In undergrad he studied archeology but met Shayera at a conference. Shayera, for her part, only went to that conference to accompany J’onn but when Carter became interested in her research he applied to be her graduate student.

Bruce flipped through the file in front of him nodding a few times. 

“It shows a lot of promise. I’ll talk to the Dean.”

The rest of the department heads had no concerns and the meeting wound down. Bruce stalked over to Shayera.

“I want half the money.”

\---

“John! I need your help.”

“Bruce likes women who-”

“Not with that.”

John raised an eyebrow at Diana’s blush. The relationship between his two friends was so long in coming that he couldn’t help making fun of them.

“I want to start a STEM diversity board.”

“Why didn’t you mention it at the meeting?”

Diana shrugged. 

“I thought I needed some support. Will you help?”

“I think it’s a great idea.”

Diana smiled and her eyes lit up. 

“I’m going to talk to Shayera and Zatana. Would you mind talking to Victor Stone?”

“Sure. What about Dinah and Kara?”

“And Mari?”

They continued like that for a few minutes, jotting down names and basic objectives. The discussion wound down and Diana started to pack up. John couldn’t   
help taking another shot at Diana and Bruce.

“He has a thing for black.”

Diana threw a crumpled paper ball at him.


	3. Square Root of E Over m

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

“Hi Shayera how’s processing the new sample?”

“Amazing! Carter’s duplication code works flawlessly.”

Diana peeked into the clean room to get a glimpse of the new element. The minute   
deposits of nth metal hovered a few centimeters over the bottom of the dish. 

“I cannot believe you discovered an element that defies gravity.”

“Jealous?”

“No I’m excited! Once we find analyze some of its properties we may able to prove or disprove the existence of gravitons! This is going to make your career!”

Before Shayera could respond an explosion rocked the lab. They were both slammed back into the wall as the sample expanded with a blast of fire. Diana groaned and rubbed her forehead. She gasped when she saw blood on her fingers. With a start she snapped her gaze to Shayera.

A large chunk of the metal stuck out of her left shoulder blade and debris pinned her leg to the floor. Diana crawled over to her friend.

“Shayera.” She glanced at the chunk of celling on top of her friend. Could she lift it? It had to be 200kg, but she couldn’t leave her friend trapped and in pain. Diana made up her mind and stuck her hands under the concrete. She grit her teeth and pulled.   
After a few good pushes (and a long string of curses) the rock came free. Shayera woke as Diana took her in her arms.

“What happened?” 

Diana struggled to the door. Her head throbbed and the merciless heat wasn’t   
helping. 

“The sample exploded. It slammed us both into a wall.” She didn’t mention the metal   
in Shayera’s back. The chemist groaned in pain when she attempted to shift her   
weight. “You have a broken leg.”

“And… Diana what’s wrong with my back.”

Diana didn’t say anything and focused on getting them both the door. Just as it came into view the celling collapsed in front of them, leaving them trapped. 

She set Shayera down on her stomach and sat beside her. Diana grimaced with a   
second glance at her friend’s bloody shoulder.

“Is it bad?”

Again, Diana didn’t speak.

“The metal has some kind of numbing agent. I don’t feel anything.”

“I suppose that’s better than still being passed out.”

She chuckled but her face fell a second after.

“What are we going to do?”

Diana sighed while glancing around the room. They were trapped and with both of   
them hurt and couldn’t just force their way out. Diana bit her lip. 

What else could she do?

\---

Bruce stood, consumed by dread, as the chemistry building smoldered.

“The blaze seemed to snuff itself out, but not before significant damage was done to   
the building.”

Diana was in there.

Bruce felt his chest tighten. It was like losing his parents all over again. The familiar helplessness overcame him and J’onn placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

“They are sending in a rescue team now. She will be all right.” He let his hand fall   
back to his side. “Diana is a fighter. She will not stop until she comes back to you.”  
John paced along the police line while Carter spoke with one of the officers. Bruce could hear the fear in his voice even though he was at least five meters away. The poor boy thought this was all his fault.

Bruce knew the feeling, but didn’t have it in him to comfort Carter. He could lose Diana before he even had her.

\---

“What are you doing?”

Diana limped over to the massive hunk of metal. Taking a bit in her hand she found it pliable and impossibly light in her palm. When she closed her hand it exerted a force against her fingers.

The more things it came in contact with, the larger a force it produced.  
Diana narrowed her eyes.

She walked back over to Shayera and looked at the celling. There was a hole in the upper left corner

“What are you doing? We can’t get up there.”

Diana clenched her fist. 

“Maybe we can.” Diana fashioned a thin bracelet and pushed down. She smiled as the upward force increased. “The nth metal can get us out.”

She took larger chunk and began to pack it around her wrists. Once she fashioned two silver cuffs, she tensed her muscles and lifted off the ground. Shayera’s eyes widened in shock.

“You’re flying.”

“Yeah.”

“We’re flying out of here?”  
Diana smirked and lowered herself to the ground. She tore off another piece of metal and started to fashion a belt for Shayera

“Like bats out of Tartarus.”

\---

“They’ve been in there too long!” John gripped the police tape with deadly force. The rescue team had been in the building for ten minutes. Both he and Bruce were so on edge the tension was palpable.

Before John could start a second shouting match with the officers patrolling the perimeter, Diana and Shayera flew from the building.

Quite literally.

She guided herself using silver bracelets and dragged a seemingly weightless Shayera behind her. Diana glided towered a waiting ambulance and handed her friend over to John and EMT’s. After removing the belt from Shayera and handing it off to Carter, she landed in front of Bruce.

The second she touched down Bruce stood on his toes to kiss her. She groaned and leaned into his touch, all the adrenaline from being trapped releasing itself. Bruce felt her tears on his cheeks.

“I’m so glad you’re ok.” He brought her hand to eye level. “I like the new bracelets.”  
She gave a watery laugh. “Thanks. I might keep them.” She squeezed his hand. “I think they invert gravitons and allow me to fly.”

He embraced her and stood on his toes to kiss her temple.

“You’re like traveling at the speed of light.”

“Oh?”

“Completely impossible, astonishing, and amazing.”

“Is that you’re way of saying I love you?”

“Only if you say it back.”

“Alright.” She backed away to look him in the eyes.

“I love you.”

He leaned his forehead on hers 

“I love you too.”


End file.
